Word.ws English Dictionary

guttersnipes

guttersnipes is the plural of guttersnipe.

Meaning of guttersnipe

Noun

guttersnipe (plural guttersnipes)

  1. (dated, derogatory) A person of the lowest social or economic class.
    • Do not worry, Mrs Kane, we will return you a different boy. The guttersnipe you bring us will not be the boy you get back.1980, Bernard MacLaverty, 'Lamb' (novel), (Chapter 6, at page 51 in the 1981 King Penguin paperback edition)
  2. (archaic, derogatory) A street urchin.
    • Never lose a chance: it doesnt come everyday. I shall make a duchess of this draggletailed guttersnipe.1912 (date written), [George] Bernard Shaw, “Pygmalion”, in Androcles and the Lion, Overruled, Pygmalion, London: Constable and Company, published 1916, →OCLC, Act II, page 123
  3. (US, derogatory, obsolete, slang) A broker who sold securities in the street.

Questions about guttersnipes

What is guttersnipes the plural of?
Guttersnipes is the plural of guttersnipe.

Words near guttersnipes in the dictionary

  1. guttermouth
  2. guttermouths
  3. gutters
  4. gutters out
  5. guttersnipe
  6. guttersnipes
  7. guttersnipish
  8. guttersome
  9. gutterspout
  10. gutterspouts
  11. gutterwise

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: guttersnipes (page history and authors); guttersnipe (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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